In a modern world with so much stimulation, travel, and running after time it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and small.  When we are in the middle of it, It’s easy to forget why we are here on earth, we become immersed in chasing the clock and the American dream of wealth, success, popularity and possessions.  It is easy to get caught up seeking outward security in an attempt still the internal unrest.  This is the very moment to invite ourselves to make use of a variety of tools to bring us back to calmness and simplicity.

When I notice these tendencies in myself I come back to the tools of health and joy.  Eating live and nutritive foods brings back the essential building blocks that ground the body and a simple exercise of actively cultivating joyful emotions grounds the mind.  Mantra and yoga asana have been other essential tools for me to reset the damage of over-stimulation and aging.

Reading inspirational material elevates my thinking to another way of seeing and acting when I feel trapped in old and habitual thought patterns.  Spending time in nature, with other beings (human or not), listening to elevating music, meditation, spending a day in silence, all of these things can be tools to help us remember the true purpose of this life.

Whatever tools you have, these are your gifts to return you to the source, grounded and in joy.

“Come, come, whoever you are.  Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving.  It doesn’t matter.  Ours is not a caravan of despair.  Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times.  Come, yet again, come, come.”  Rumi